Dirty English

I raised my hand tentatively. “That would be me.”

“Please stand when you speak, Miss Bennett, so the entire class can see and hear you.” She raked her eyes over me as I stood. “I confess, I’m extremely curious … did your parents name you after the book?”

I straightened my shoulders. “My parents never married, so Bennett’s my mother’s name. Elizabeth is just a name my mother picked. I doubt my parents had ever heard of Jane Austen.” I shrugged. “I didn’t discover Pride and Prejudice until high school.”

She tapped her pencil against her leg. “Are you looking for your Mr. Darcy here at Whitman, Miss Bennett?”

My face flushed and I blinked. “I—I’m not looking for love, Dr. Feldman, just an education.”

“Hmm, I see. But as humans aren’t we naturally inclined to seek out love? Elizabeth found her soulmate. Don’t you want to find yours?”

“No.”

She gave me a surprised look. “Ah, I see. That might be a discussion for another day then. You may sit.”

I sat down, relieved.

“Bugger, you could have warned me how scary she is,” Dax leaned over and whispered.

I shrugged. “Wait until she asks hard questions. I heard at least half of all her students drop after the first day.”

Feldman’s voice interrupted us. “Mr. Declan Blay, please stand if you are present today.”

Rustling motions came from behind me as Declan stood. “Present.” His husky, clipped voice sent shivers over me.

She nodded, her eyes gliding over the muscles in his arms then coming back to rest on his face. “Mr. Blay, I trust you’ve read the required first ten chapters of Pride and Prejudice before today’s class?”

“Not precisely.”

She bristled. “I don’t tolerate students who don’t follow directions or complete homework assignments.”

Declan cocked his head. “No, let me explain—”

She cut him off. “Please sit down so I can call on someone who’s read the material.”

“I’ll take my chances if you don’t mind, Dr. Feldman.” He crossed his arms and sent her an expectant look.

She waved her hand. “Fine. Tell us about our heroine. What do you think of our Elizabeth Bennett?”

He rubbed the slight shadow on his face. “She’s witty and spirited and the one least expected to marry a rich man, although she does by the end of the book.” His gray eyes lazily brushed over me. “She’s also a beautiful girl who likes the rain.”

My heart thundered. God, it sounded like he was talking about me.

“Would you say she’s the perfect woman, Mr. Blay?”

He blinked. “I don’t believe in the perfect woman, just the right woman. Elizabeth knows she isn’t perfect, but neither is Darcy. They’re both flawed people who are at times too proud to admit their own true feelings—hence the title.”

I admit it. His understanding of the theme of the book made me hot. Right then and there, I wanted to toss him down on the floor, crawl on top of him, and ride him like the Jane Austen reader I was.

“What are Elizabeth’s flaws, then?” Dr. Feldman asked him.

“She’s defensive—because of her family—and it affects her relationship with Darcy. She assumes he’s a rich arsehole when he’s actually in love with her .”

“You seem to have a grasp on the entire novel, yet you didn’t read the assignment.” Her high heels clacked over to the front row so she could peer more closely at him. “Explain yourself.”

“I’ve read it several times, Dr. Feldman, just not recently, and I was in the process of explaining when you interrupted me.” He paused. “ Pride and Prejudice is one of my favorite books. My mum read it to me when I was a kid. She was a huge romantic … and perhaps I am as well.”

Girls swooned. Literally. I could hear them, melting in their seats as his softly rounded vowels washed over them.

I wasn’t too far behind them. Heck, I’d already pictured us lying in a pile of old books, stark naked and smoking a satisfying cigarette after boinking each other’s brains out.

Lorna clapped daintily, her eyes enraptured by Declan’s question-answering skills. I rolled my eyes.

“So awesome ,” she whispered to him. “I’ll have to read it for sure now.”

Feldman studied him, and I thought I detected a little bit of swoon in her expression too. “I look forward to calling on you again. Please be seated.”

After class finished, I turned to a glum Blake, whose hair was standing up everywhere from raking his hands through it. “Shit, this class is killer. There’s no way I can do it.”

“You’re dropping my dream class?” I patted his hair down, some of the earlier weirdness fading.

He sighed and stood. “Yep. I’m heading over to the registrar’s to take care of it. See you at lunch?” He fidgeted, waiting for me to reply.

“Sure.” I couldn’t say no.

We made plans to meet later, and he headed down the stairs and out the door.

I gathered my notebook and pens with a grin. Even though Feldman was tough as nails, I was excited about digging into this class.

Plus Declan was here. But he’s trouble, remember? a voice in my head reminded me.

“You’re a weird chick. You act like this class was fun,” Dax said as he watched me gather my things.